DONETSK, January 28. /TASS/. As many as 1,194 Ukrainian servicemen have been killed since the beginning of combat operations in eastern Ukraine, Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Wednesday.

In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian troops’ casualties reached 89, he said, adding that the most fierce fighting had been reported in the Debaltsevo and Donetsk directions, with no active combat operations reported from Mariupol.

"Throughout the day, the Ukrainian army has been heavily shelling residential districts of Donetsk and its suburbs from multiple rocket launchers and large-calibre artillery," Basurin said.